Puja Khedkar & the Pandora’s Box of Fake OBC, Disability Certificates Rusting the ‘Steel Frame’ of India | 360° View

The controversy over IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s OBC and disability status seems to have opened a can of worms. Allegations of fake disability claims by numerous IAS and IPS officers are circulating widely on social media as activists also post screenshots of the lists of several IAS and IPS officers with special category-based — OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) or EWS (Economically Weaker Section) — candidatures.

In response to the social media campaign and the highly viral lists of alleged offenders, many All India Services officers are now demanding a comprehensive investigation into these claims. Experts caution that these accusations of falsifying entry-level certificates reveal a troubling decline in the integrity of India’s bureaucratic “steel frame”, suggesting it may be “rusting”.

Hundreds of posts are flooding multiple social media platforms with users posting photos, financial status, family background of officers accused of forgery or falsification of documents. Questions are being raised over the verification system for the OBC and EWS quotas and disability reservation.

Meanwhile, several allegations have also surfaced about genuine OBC and EWS candidates being excluded from the All India Services despite securing valid ranks. These fraudulent practices not only undermine the integrity of the reservation system but also deprive deserving candidates of their rightful opportunities.

Pandora’s Box

The series of incidents and revelations around Puja Khedkar’s candidature has ignited a broader debate over India’s most esteemed and prestigious selection process by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), that builds the country’s ‘steel frame’.

A senior IAS officer in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said that the government is closely monitoring the posts on social media and the internet campaign. “The government may verify the details and initiate an inquiry if it receives a formal complaint against any officer’s candidature. Questions have been raised over almost a dozen IAS and IPS officers. Many of them are now in the middle of their career, while some are still at the junior level,” said the officer on condition of anonymity.

“An inquiry based on a social media campaign is not possible, but the government has several ways to evaluate the officers in question and that will be done in due process,” he added.

What is Non-Creamy Layer OBC Reservation?

Reservation has always been a contentious and debatable issue in the country across education and employment sectors. The system of reservation was introduced to uplift historically marginalised communities, including the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

In 1980, the Mandal Commission recommended 27% reservation for OBCs in government jobs and educational institutions, which was implemented in 1992. Subsequent to that, reservation was brought in for OBCs in Indian bureaucracy. Before the 1990s, reservation was meant for only SC and ST candidates.

However, the government later refined the OBC reservation policy for the highly competitive All India Services (AIS). The UPSC regulations state: “Reservation is made for the candidates belonging to the OBC category in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government. No reservation/relaxation is admissible to OBC candidates belonging to creamy layer.” It further clarified that the term ‘OBC’ has been used to mean ‘non-creamy layer OBC’.

The UPSC also says the candidate applying for OBC category is mandated to submit an OBC certificate. The certificate can only be issued by authorities like district magistrates, collectors, additional or sub-divisional magisterates and so on.

This list of authorities who can issue a certificate includes the IAS officers. In multiple social media posts, activists allege that officers with questionable candidatures come from all-bureaucrat families as well.

“There are leakages in the system. If a candidate has a bureaucrat in the family, he or she will easily be able to get an OBC certificate issued. The UPSC needs to have a robust verification system, which it seems to be missing,” said another senior IAS officer.

What is Disability Reservation

The UPSC provides reservations for candidates with disabilities in its efforts to promote inclusivity and ensure equal opportunities in the civil services. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates the reservation of 4% of vacancies in government jobs for PwD (Persons With Disability) candidates. The act clearly defines the categories.

According to the Act, there are 21 categories of disabilities, including blindness, deafness, locomotor disability, mental illness, and multiple disabilities.

According to the UPSC disability policy, the commission allocates 4% of the total vacancies for persons with disabilities across different categories and the categories include locomotor disability, blindness and low vision, hearing impairment and multiple disabilities.

In some of the allegations, a few officers have been accused of faking ‘locomotor disability’. Locomotor disability refers to a medical condition which restricts a person’s free movement or limits the person’s movement. The condition can be caused by polio attack, muscle dystrophy, spinal injury or amputation of a limb.

What are the Reforms Being Demanded?

Retired and serviced bureaucrats across states and organisations have called for a robust mechanism to verify such certificates. “Even though the government has established verification mechanisms to scrutinize the authenticity of OBC and disability certificates with regular audits, the system is yet to be foolproof. That is why lapses occur,” said a senior IFoS (Indian Forest Service) officer serving in a northern state.

“The UPSC needs to keep in place stricter verification processes and impose harsher penalties for those found guilty of falsifying documents. The commission may use technology, such as digital certificates and databases, to improve the verification process and reduce fraud,” he added.